Water Aerodrome Planned in Chilika Lake

In a major boost to the Tourism sector in Odisha, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is planning to set up a water aerodrome in the Chilika lake – the largest backwater lagoon in Asia and Second largest in the World.

Recently, a two-day preliminary feasibility survey was carried out in the lake by a special team led by the AAI officials, SpiceJet, Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre, Chilika Development Authority (CDA) and the state Water Resources Department June 15 and 16 to decide on the location of the proposed aerodrome. The proposed aerodrome entailing an investment of Rs 10 crore will have 500-feet runway. In addition, the flight services at the proposed aerodrome will be under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.

As of now, Spice Jet proposed to connect three routes in Odisha, which have commercial as well as tourism importance — Bhubaneswar to Puri via Chilika Lake, Bhubaneswar to Chandipur via Bhitarkanika National Park and Bhubaneswar to Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur.

Brahmapur Bus Terminal to be functional soon

Haladiapadar Bus Terminal

The newly constructed bus terminal at Haladiapadar, 5 KM away from Brahmapur city in Ganjam district will likely to be functional from 01 July. The district administration has issued all necessary guidelines in this regard to the concern authorities in this regard.

The bus terminal constructed at an investment of Rs 12.87 crore has been built by BDA and the construction was completed in 2016 and inaugurated by the Chief Minister on 02 February 2016. But it was not made functional due to various reasons. The delay was primarily attributed to construction of safe entry and exit points along with a traffic post on NH-16. However, the BDA has sorted out all the issues and it is likely to be functional from 01 July.

The new terminal is equipped with a rest shed for drivers, garage, rest rooms for passengers, taxi stand, parking facilities for buses, community toilets, canteen and ticket counters. At present all buses including 350 private ordinary buses, 50 private express buses and 28 OSRTC buses will use the terminal.

Odisha to set up hospitals on PPP mode

In a major boost to the healthcare sector, the government of Odisha has decided to set up 20 new hospitals in PPP mode across the state.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting headed by the state chief minister Naveen Pattnaik. These hospitals will be constructed in 11 high priority districts under Odisha Health Service Investment Policy-2016. The construction of 20 new hospitals will entail an investment of Rs1,000 crore under public private partnership (PPP) mode.

These projects will be executed in Hub and Spoke models under the Affordable Health care Project, while some will function as central hospitals or hubs and some branch hospitals. The new hospitals will be constructed in the districts of Puri, Jeypore, Angul, Barbil, Baripada, Bhadrak, Balangir, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Boudh, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Sonepur, Rayagada, Paralakhemundi, Rairangpur and Kendrapara. 

It is estimated that around 2700 new beds will be available in these 20 hospitals in various departments. At the spoke hospitals Medicine, Orthopaedic, Anaesthesia, Ophthalmology, Surgery, Gynaecology, Paediatric, Psychiatric, Diagnostic, X-ray, ENT, Dentistry, Dermatology and Trauma Care facilities will be available. At the hub hospitals Cardiology and Neurology departments will be available in addition with the above facilities.

Cabinet approves utilisation of land to Tata Steel to set up industrial park

The Odisha cabinet on 21 June 2018, cleared a proposal by Tata Steel for utilisation of 1,735 acres of land for developing a private industrial park at Gopalpur, in Ganjam district.

Of the 2,970 acres of land handed over to Industrial Industrial Infrastructure Development Corp (IDCO) for setting up a steel plant at Gopalpur by Tata Steel, 1,235 acres notified by the Central government as SEZ. The balance 1,735 acre may be utilized by the said company for setting up a private industrial park as domestic tariff area.

The Cabinet also approved the lease of government land measuring 181.77 acres near Sambalpur in favour of IIM-Sambalpur for construction of a permanent campus. It also cleared alienation of government land of 881 acres in four districts free of cost in favour of Union Ministry of Railways for construction of Daspalla-Balangir segment of the crucial Khurda-Balangir new broad gauge railway line.

Press Note

JSW forms subsidiary to fast-track Odisha project

In a bid to fast-track its 12 million tonne crude steel plant in Odisha JSW Steel has formed a wholly owned subsidiary viz. JSW Utkal Steel Ltd.

JSW Steel, led by Sajjan Jindal, has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 55,000 crore for numerous projects. These include an integrated steel mill, 900 MW captive power plant, a 32 million tonne pellet unit, a captive port and a slurry pipeline to transport iron ore concentrates from Joda to the proposed project near Paradip.

Meanwhile, JSW Steel has approached the state government to transfer all clearances and approvals to JSW Steel Ltd. The government is currently examining the submitted papers.

JSW Steel originally proposed a 10 million tonne shore-based steel plant and sought for 4,500 acres of land for the project. Later the company revised its plan, seeking a 12 million tonne steel project instead.

However, the state government is set to allocate the same land initially acquired by Posco for their Integrated Steel Plant.

Railways to complete Barpali-Jharsuguda coal link by 2016

The Ministry of Railways is planning to fast track three coal link projects, pending since 1999, following a push from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-headed Cabinet Committee on Investment pushing for fast-tracking of projects.

The three rail corridors, which include Tori-Shivpuri-Kathotia in North Karanpura, Jharkhand; Bhupdeopur-Korichhaapar to Mand Raigadh mines in Chhattisgarh and Barpali-Jharsuguda in IB Valley, Odisha, are to be completed by December 2016.

The lines in Odisha and Jharkhand are fully funded by Coal India, while the one in Chhattisgarh would be set up through a joint venture. After completion of these coal corridors, these lines would facilitate around 250-300 million tonnes of coal movement every year.

Consultant appointed for Reverine Port Project in Odisha

The Odisha government’s proposed riverine project in the state has got a major facelift with the appointment of a WAPCOS, the consultant for preparation of feasibility report.

The Kolkata based consultant Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) and the state government have signed an agreement for the purpose. The consultant will conduct a feasibility study for the riverine port project.

The project entailing an investment of Rs 500 crore will be awarded through competitive bidding route. The project will be likely to coming up at the Mahanadi river mouth near Paradip, close to the plants of Essar Steel Odisha and Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative and will be used as a common port for several industries.